It's just a number. I don't feel any different today at 155 than I did yesterday at 156 or 30 days ago at 161. I selected 155 because that is what my doctor, quoting standard height / weight charts, told me was my ideal weight. I was 155 in high school, but shortly after that, in my 20's I added muscle, with probably a small layer of fat, going up to 180. This seemed like my ideal weight, but I must have lost a of of muscle because I had a lot more fat in my 60's at 180 than I did in my 20's at 180. I still have some belly fat (love handles) so I am thinking about going down to 150, my ideal weight using Dr. Atkins formula. I don't want to go too low, so it may turn out that the only way to lose that belly fat is exercise.

I agree with a lot of the commenters here that its best to stick to a plan and not get discouraged and change plans at every stall or set back. It may sound contradictory, but I also think it helps to tweak what you are doing every so often. I stated in a previous post that I started with an informal low carb plan, just focusing on meat and salads, without really following any specific rules and still eating some high carb snacks. That did work, but as I lost more weight, I found I had to get stricter about what I ate to continue losing weight. After looking over the Atkins web site, I did the 2 week induction, started losing again and then added back the same slow carb foods I was eating previously. I stalled again, after which I read Dr. Atkins original book from 1972, followed his (biologically) zero carb induction, and then started adding back what they now call the foundation vegetables, monitoring my reaction to each one. So, while I hit my goal, and no problem the time frame of 14 months to lose 69 lbs, I do believe if I would have started a strict Atkins 72 program, or really any low carb plan, 14 months ago I would have hit that goal a lot faster.

I still have to figure out a long term maintenance plan. I think I can safely say that my body is not designed for high carb foods. Even if eating an apple itself does not cause me to gain weight, it does seem to cause hunger which leads me to eat more, i.e. weight gain. My thinking right now is to remain on a low carb diet, but experimenting with different foods, in different quantities. If something throws me off track, I will go back to induction for a few days and then quickly add back the foods I have already found acceptable.

As I am still learning and experimenting, don't call me out if I make contradictory remarks in a future post.

Excellent and level writeup DCC - Love this "It's just a number. I don't feel any different today at 155 than I did yesterday at 156 or 30 days ago at 161"

People are doing this quietly everywhere. This is my believe. We are all changing, some will go kicking and screaming. Thanks for doing neither of those here and being encouraging to others along the way.

... My thinking right now is to remain on a low carb diet, but experimenting with different foods, in different quantities. If something throws me off track, I will go back to induction for a few days and then quickly add back the foods I have already found acceptable.

As I am still learning and experimenting, don't call me out if I make contradictory remarks in a future post.

This is essentially what I've been doing, and it works well for me. I'm still losing verrry slowly, about 2-3 pounds a month now, but feel comfortable and confident that I can do this for life. Between now and the time I want to stop losing altogether, I'm sure I will figure out what and how much of a little extra something every week will help me maintain.

Hi, I think we all need to listen to our own bodies and react accordingly.

Some people can handle dairy, some cannot.
Some people can handle the occasional bread and some cannot.
Some people can handle the occasional potato and some cannot.
Some things trigger overeating for some and some do not.